This invention relates to fiber optics and more particularly to fiber optic bundles with a lens system at one end and polished surfaces at the other end.
Fiber optic bundles can be manufactured to have the property that light impinging onto one end of a bundle is transmitted through the bundle, including along curved paths, without distortion so that the image is presented undistorted at the opposite end of the bundle.
In prior art fiber optic devices, lenses and magnifying devices were sometimes provided in order to reduce the number of fibers used in a device. U.S. Pat. No. 3,985,424 to Steinacher shows a panoramic rear viewing system in which multiple fiber optic bundles are mounted behind lenses at various positions around the periphery of a vehicle. The output ends of the fiber optic bundles are located side by side behind an array of magnifying lenses within view of the driver for combining the sector images into a panoramic view. Steinacher's device requires a lens at each end of each fiber optic bundle. The magnifying lenses at the output ends of the fiber optic bundles allow the fiber optic bundles to serve a viewing area larger than the combined area of the fiber optic bundles. If the magnification is considerable at the viewing end, the quality of the image will be degraded due to the finite size of the fibers in the bundle. Additionally, in order to achieve a panoramic view, the orientation of the output ends must be carefully coordinated with the orientation of the input ends and the multiple input ends must be coordinated with each other. A simpler, less expensive, and more versatile device is desired.